Ironing presses



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momma PRESSES Filed March 17, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jnvemor:

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momma PRESSES Filed March 1'7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VINVENTOR 1 HUGO WERNER GESCHKA W BY W 3,988,233 IRONING PRESSES Hugo Werner Geschka, Ginsterweg, Angermund Bezirk, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to Maschinenfabrik Peter Pfenningsherg G.m.h.H., Lintorf Bezirk, Dusseldort, Germany Filed Mar. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 96,475 (Ilaims priority, applican'on Germany Mar. 24, 195i 6 Claims. ((31. 38-34) This invention relates to a small ironing press which is intended particularly for the household or for small industrial establishments.

Known small ironing presses are usually mounted on a short socket which resiliently supports the table of the press and carries on a projecting arm a pressure plate which is hinged or pivoted to the arm. Actuating handles, by means of which the pressure plate can be pressed against the press table, are disposed above the pressure plate. The ironing press is provided with heating means which is usually built into the pressure plate. The length of the press table, as well as that of the pressure plate, is usually not more than one meter, so that an ironiing press of this kind can be set up on a table in a room.

Smooth parts of washed articles, for example the front and back in the case of shirts, can be properly ironed with presses of this kind. On the other hand, for example, the collars and cuffs of shirts cannot be satisfactorily pressed, that is to say they cannot be made sufficient-ly smooth. For this purpose, separate presses having one or more pressure shoes are necessary for the collars and cuffs. These pressure shoes are angularly bent or curved, the radius of curvature amounting to from fifty to several hundred millimeters. Such presses have only been used in the home to a limited extent owing to their high cost. On the other hand, small ironing apparatus have been used in the home for pressing the smooth parts of Washed articles, the collars and cuifs almost always being ironed by hand. Such a procedure, however, is awkward and time-consuming, the more so because each article, after being pressed, must first be hung up and later must again be taken in hand for ironing.

The object of the invention is to provide a small ironing press which does not possess the above-mentioned disadvantages and enables, for example in the case of shirts, the smooth parts such as the front and back, as well as the collars and ends to be pressed in one operation. This result is achieved in accordance with the invention in that the ironing press is provided with an ironing shoe comprising an upper and lower part, of which the upper shoe is mounted on the pressure plate and the lower shoe on the press table, and the height of at least one of the two shoe parts is adjustable. Then, with this press, shirts, collars, and cuffs, frocks and the like can be finished in one operation. To do this the smooth parts of the article are first pressed in the usual manner, and after this, for example after raising the lower ironing shoe, the collars and cuffs are pressed. According to a further feature of the invention, the adjustment of the height of the ironing shoe is efiiected by actuating a handle preferably connected by a pair of levers, which can be brought into a dead-center position, to the ironing shoe which is guided on the ironing table, preferably in a vertical guide slot. It is only necessary, therefore, to operate one handle in order to bring the ironing shoe into the operating position and fix it in this position.

According to a further feature of the invention, the flanks of the pressure surfaces of the upper ironing shoe include a smaller angle than those of the lower shoe. The result of this is that first the outer flanks of the ironing shoe are placed on the article to be pressed and on pressing at t Patented May 7., 1953 the upper shoe further downwards it stretches the article and causes it to conform to the shape of the shoe. In this way folds or creases in the article, such as occur with the known presses for collars and cutfs, are avoided.

An ironing press in accordance with the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front-elevational view of the press;

FIGURE 2 is a side-elevational view of the upper and lower ironing shoes;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front view showing an adjusting mechanism for the lower shoe which is arranged on the side of the press table;

FIGURE 4 is a side-elevational view of the press; and

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the lower shoe.

Referring to the drawing, the ironing press is provided with a support base 1 forming a socket in which the table or buck 2 of the press is telescopically guided by means of a spring-biased cylindrical sleeve 3. The pressure plate or head 5 and the actuating mechanism 6 for pressing the head against the buck Z are mounted on a projecting arm 4 which can swing about a horizontal axis. The generally concave upper pressing-shoe member 7 is mounted laterally on the pressure head 5 and, when the head 5 is moved downwards, bears against the convex lower-shoe member 8 on the press buck 2 and presses against it. The lower shoe 8 can be lowered down to the plane 21 of the press table or even below this by moving the manually operable actuating handle 9 in the direction of the arrow 10 and thereby brought, for example, into the lower position or inoperative position illustrated in dotted lines.

The article to be ironed, for example a shirt, is pushed in the direction of the arrow 12 on to the press table or buck 2 which is preferably flat. After this the smooth parts, namely the front and back of the shirt, are pressed by lowering the pressure plate 5. During this operation the lower shoe 8 which is attached to the side of the plate 2 is in the lower position indicated by the reference numeral 11. After this, for pressing the collar and cufls the handle 9 is brought into the position illustrated in FIG- URE 1 whereby the lower shoe 8' is moved into its raised or operating position. The part to be pressed is placed smoothly over the flanks 8' of the surface of the lower shoe and the pressure plate 5 is then lowered. As will be seen from FIGURE 2 the angle a which the flanks 7' of the upper shoe 7 make with one another is smaller than the angle 12 enclosed by he flanks 8" of the lower shoe. On pressing the upper shoe against the lower shoe, a tensile force is, therefore, exerted on the article to be pressed, the force acting in the direction of the arrows 13, 14. The upper shoe 7 may be provided with a heating means 15 in the usual manner.

An adjusting device for the lower shoe 8 is illustrated in FIGURE 3. In the example illustrated, a vertical guide slot 16 for guiding the guide members 17 of the lower shoe 8 in a straight line is provided on the press table 2. A rod, which is connected to the handle g and is movably guided in the lower part of the press table 2, carries on the end adjacent the shoe 8' a head 18 which is connected by a link 19 in toggle lever fashion to the lower shoe 8. The lever system 18, 19 is preferably such that, when the shoe 8 is in the raised position illustrated in FIGURE 3, the system is in an upper dead-centre position, so that the shoe is fixed relative to the press table 2. By moving the handle 9 in the direction of the arrow 10 the link 19 is moved into the position 20, and the lower shoe 8 is lowered, that is to say moved into the position indicated by the dotted line 11.

The new ironing press can be modified in many respects without departing from the invention. Thus, for example, the height of both the lower and the upper shoe may be adjustable. Also the lower or upper shoe can be arranged at another place on the press table or on the pressure plate and can be moved away from the plane 21 of the tab-1e 2 by another adjusting device. This can be effected, for example, by swinging or rotating the corresponding ironing shoe. The supporting socket 1 with the guide sleeve 3 for the press table 2 is preferably displaced from the middle. of the table in the direction towards the ironing shoes 7, 8.

I claim:

1. In an ironing press, in combination, a support, a buck mounted on said support having a generally horizontally extending ironing surface, a head displaceably mounted on said support for movement toward and away from said surface, a generally concave upper pressingshoe member mounted on said head along a lateral edge thereof, a convex lower pressing-shoe member shiftably mounted on said buck for displacement transversely to said surface, said lower shoe member being disposed along a corresponding edge of said buck, and manually operable actuating means for displacing said lower shoe member relatively to said buck into a working position wherein said lower shoe member is engageable with said upper shoe member upon displacement of said head toward said surface and an inoperative position wherein said lower shoe member is withdrawn from engagement with said upper shoe member upon said displacement of said head.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said lower shoe member is slidable relatively to said buck, said actuating means comprising a manually shiftable handle displaceable generally parallel to said surface and a link member pivotally secured to said lower shoe member at a first pivot and to said handle at a second pivot, said pivots lying along the line parallel to the direction of displacement of said lower shoe member in the working position thereof, thereby locking said lower shoe member relatively to said buck in said working position.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said support is offset from a median plane of said buck transverse to said surface and parallel to the direction of displacement of said lower shoe member toward the latter.

4. In an ironing press, in combination, a support, a buck mounted on said support having a generally horizontally extending ironing surface, a head displaceably mounted on said support for movement toward and away from said surface, a generally concave upper pressingshoe member mounted on said head along a lateral edge thereof, a convex lower pressing-shoe member shiftably mounted on said buck for displacement transversely to said surface, said lower shoe member being disposed along a corresponding edge of said buck, and manually operable actuating means for displacing said lower shoe member relatively to said buck into a working position wherein said lower shoe member is engageable with said upper shoe member upon displacement of said head toward said surface and an inoperative position wherein said lower shoe member is withdrawn from engagement with said upper shoe member upon said displacement of said head, each of said members having a curved central portion and a pair of substantially straight portions flanking said curved portion, the straight portions of said lower shoe member including between them an angle greater than that included between the straight portions of said upper shoe member whereby material to be ironed is stretched outwardly between said pressing-shoe members.

5. In an ironing press, in combination, a support, a buck mounted on said support having an ironing surface, a head displaceably mounted on said support for movement toward and away from said surface, a generally concave upper pressing-shoe member mounted on said head along an edge thereof, a convex lower pressing-shoe member shiftably mounted on said buck for displacement transversely to said surface, said lower shoe member be ing disposed along a corresponding edge of said buck, and actuating means on said buck for displacing said lower shoe member relatively to said buck between a working position wherein said lower shoe member extends beyond said surface in the direction of said head and an inoperative position wherein said lower shoe member is offset from said surface in the opposite direction.

6. In an ironing press, in combination, a support, a buck resiliently mounted on said support having a generally horizontally extend-ing ironing surface, a head displaceably mounted on said support for movement toward and away from said surface, a generally concave upper pressing-shoe member mounted on said head along an edge thereof, a convex lower pressing-shoe member shiftably mounted on said buck for displacement transversely to said surface, said lower shoe member being disposed along a corresponding edge of said buck, and actuating means on said buck for displacing said lower shoe member relatively to sai dbuck between a working position wherein said lower shoe member extends above said surface in the direction of said head and an inoperative position wherein said lower shoe member lies below said surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,141,902 Palmer June 1, 1915 1,823,482 Bausman Sept. 15, 1931 2,124,898 Shepard July 26, 1938 2,327,492 Braun Aug. 24, 1943 2,370,553 Lornitzo Feb. 27, 1945 

1. IN AN IRONING PRESS, IN COMBINATION, A SUPPORT, A BUCK MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT HAVING A GENERALLY HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING IRONING SURFACE, A HEAD DISPLACEABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORT FOR MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID SURFACE, A GENERALLY CONCAVE UPPER PRESSINGSHOE MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID HEAD ALONG A LATERAL EDGE THEREOF, A CONVEX LOWER PRESSING-SHOE MEMBER SHIFTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID BUCK FOR DISPLACEMENT TRANSVERSELY TO SAID SURFACE, SAID LOWER SHOE MEMBER BEING DISPOSED ALONG A CORRESPONDING EDGE OF SAID BUCK, AND MANUALLY OPERABLE ACTUATING MEANS FOR DISPLACING SAID LOWER SHOE MEMBER RELATIVELY TO SAID BUCK INTO A WORKING POSITION WHEREIN SAID LOWER SHOE MEMBER IS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID UPPER SHOE MEMBER UPON DISPLACEMENT OF SAID HEAD TOWARD SAID SURFACE AND AN INOPERATIVE POSITION WHEREIN SAID LOWER SHOE MEMBER IS WITHDRAWN FROM ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID UPPER SHOE MEMBER UPON SAID DISPLACEMENT OF SAID HEAD. 